Using research to promote inclusion and equity in education
Impact of the research beyond academia
A long-term consultant to UNESCO, Professor Ainscow’s research has led to the development of a series of resources that are now being used internationally to promote inclusion and equity. The most significant of these materials is the ‘Guide for Ensuring Inclusion and Equity in Education’, published in 2017. See:
This guide, which aims to help countries to take steps to address marginalisation, exclusion and low achievement, is built around the analytical framework developed through Ainscow’s earlier research. This framework serves to:
- Review how well national policies take account of equity and inclusion;
- Decide actions needed to develop policies based on the review; and
- Monitor progress as actions are taken.
Overall, this process aims to create system-wide change for overcoming barriers to quality educational access, participation, learning processes and outcomes, and to ensure that all children are valued and engaged equally. Within the UNESCO guide, this is expressed in the mantra, ‘Every learner matters and matters equally’.
Professor Ainscow also led a team of international experts in developing Reaching Out to All Learners’, a resource pack of professional development materials to support system change. See:
http://www.ibe.unesco.org/sites/default/files/resources/ibe-crp-inclusiveeducation-2016_eng.pdf
Drawing on the findings of his research, these materials are intended to influence and support inclusive thinking and practices at all levels of an education system. Consequently, they are designed to be relevant to teachers, school leaders, district level administrators, teacher educators and national policy makers. Currently, they are being used to support developments in countries as diverse as England, Mexico and Portugal.